Hey folks,

First off, allow me to introduce myself: I’m Scott Gaeta, the new Product Manager for Vs. System. Being a long-time comic book fan, I have to say that it’s pretty exciting to get to work with super heroes on a daily basis. I’ve spent a good part of my first month here learning everything I can about Vs. System, reading your posts on the message boards, and most importantly working on our Vs. System plans and products for 2007 and beyond.

The entire Vs. System team is hard at work putting the finishing touches on all our plans for 2007, and one of my goals for this weekly column is to get the word out about some of the new things coming up for Vs System. Some weeks I may have news about a new program, and on others I may give you a peek at what we do here behind the scenes. Finally, during those times when I’m so busy I can’t get something written to meet my deadline, I’ll just steal a spoiler off of Humpherys’s desk. Anything Vs. is fair game!

To start, I’d like to provide some information regarding the City Championships program we’re planning to launch this year. Here’s a rundown:

-          City Championships will happen four times a year, to synch up with the release of each new set. The tournaments will take place a month after a new set hits stores.

-          These tournaments will take place in hobby game shops, providing a destination event for localized Vs. System communities.

-          All retailers need to do to participate is order a Hobby League Kit for that month. The City Championship materials will be included in the same package, so if your local store already runs Hobby League you should be all set for City Championships. If you don’t have a local Hobby League store, this is a great opportunity to get one started.

-          There will be exclusive prizes for top finishers and participants.

-          This program will launch with the Hobby League Kit shipping in March.

Complete details (including the prizes for City Championships) will be available in a future edition of this column, so be sure to check back regularly. In the coming weeks, I’ll have news on the Marvel Vs. System video game, the new and improved Hobby League, UDE Points cards in Marvel Team-Up, and much more.

Best,

Scott

Upper Deck Entertainment